History YMMV / TheKingInYellow

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

** Where do we begin? [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI The US entering and winning a war with Germany?]] [[TheRoaringTwenties A seemingly opulent but corrupt decade following in its wake?]] [[UsefulNotes/TheRussianRevolution Russia being taken over by a left-wing revolution]] [[UsefulNotes/WarsawPact that eventually encompasses much of Eastern Europe?]] [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust A superficially benevolent but totalitarian government creating death chambers?]] When the book came out, a major war with Germany was increasingly obviously coming; there were a few instances where said war almost happened a decade earlier than it did. Also increasingly obvious was the power of the USA in the coming century; by 1900, the US was already the top industrial power in the world. That Russia would be a superpower as well was also already predicted in the 1890s.[[note]]One of the biggest reasons for Germany's bad attitude in 1914 was a general feeling among Germany's political and military leaders that a war with Russia was A) inevitable and B) had to be completed by 1917-1919 before Russia developed too much for Germany to have a chance.[[/note]] There was also a strong feeling by Europeans that, in spite of the USA's 19th century track record on these things, the US would play a major part in said war.[[note]]While Americans liked to attribute their tendency towards isolationism to George Washington's farewell speech, the truth was that the 19thC United States's isolationism was mainly caused by their obsession with settling their entire continent. At the time that The King in Yellow was released, this had ''just'' finished. Not coincidentally, the Spanish-American War was started by the Americans a few years later.[[/note]]

** Where do we begin? [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI The US entering and winning a war with Germany?]] [[TheRoaringTwenties A seemingly opulent but corrupt decade following in its wake?]] [[UsefulNotes/TheRussianRevolution Russia being taken over by radicals]] [[UsefulNotes/WarsawPact who eventually conquer much of Eastern Europe?]] [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust A superficially benevolent but totalitarian government creating death chambers?]] When the book came out, a major war with Germany was increasingly obviously coming; there were a few instances where said war almost happened a decade earlier than it did. Also increasingly obvious was the power of the USA in the coming century; by 1900, the US was already the top industrial power in the world. That Russia would be a superpower as well was also already predicted in the 1890s.[[note]]One of the biggest reasons for Germany's bad attitude in 1914 was a general feeling among Germany's political and military leaders that a war with Russia was A) inevitable and B) had to be completed by 1917-1919 before Russia developed too much for Germany to have a chance.[[/note]] There was also a strong feeling by Europeans that, in spite of the USA's 19th century track record on these things, the US would play a major part in said war.[[note]]While Americans liked to attribute their tendency towards isolationism to George Washington's farewell speech, the truth was that the 19thC United States's isolationism was mainly caused by their obsession with settling their entire continent. At the time that The King in Yellow was released, this had ''just'' finished. Not coincidentally, the Spanish-American War was started by the Americans a few years later.[[/note]]

* ValuesDissonance: The American reforms apparently include banning "foreign-born Jews," among other questionable things, and are claimed to have ushered in an era of "tolerance and equality."
** Of course this is according to the narrator of the story, who's also a {{blackmail}}er and ''batshit crazy''. So you don't necessarily have to take the sentiment at face value.